Road vegetation in Central Europe — an example from the Czech Republic

Road nets are man-made constructions in the open landscape with a specific vegetation accompaniment in a verge or band along the road or in a divider strip. A determination of six basic vegetation types of bands along roads is possible in Central Europe (tree lines, planting area, forest stand, early successful growth, bushes band, grassy-herbal associations). In the Czech Republic, grassy-herbal communities growing on road verges are mainly formed by perennials, hemicryptophyts, and species with tendency towards pollination by insects and to anemochory and exozoochory. 40% woody and 25% herbaceous species which are non-native for Central Europe form a part of them. Three halophyte species are growing in closed lines along asphalt: Puccinellia distans, Digitaria sanguinalis and Spergularia rubra. Roads and highways should be made and used with respect to the ecological potential of roadside vegetation. However, the road net functioned as a corridor for invasive (planting or spreading) plant species.     

Reversing borealization as a means to restore biodiversity in Central-European mountainforests – an example from the Krkonoše Mountains, Czech Republic

Forestry in the Central-European mountains is confronted with a severe forest decline, which is attributed to the combined effects of 'borealization', brought about by large scale continued spruce (mainly Picea abies) monocultures, and atmospheric deposition. Borealization is defined as enhanced soil acidification and litter accumulation, retarded nutrient cycling and changed forest climate in such planted coniferous forest ecosystems. An additional effect of borealization is a major decline in biodiversity of the stands. Based on a comparative study of Norway spruce and European beech stands in the Krkonoe National Park (Czech Republic), it is concluded that traditional management should be abandoned and that management should instead focus on regeneration towards broad-leaved or mixed forest stands, to enhance the stability of forest ecosystems and their biodiversity, and to reverse borealization in lower montane zones. Available surveys of forest typology were evaluated for their suitability in regeneration management and were found to be unsuitable, since they reflect the effects of borealization rather than true site conditions. The two main pioneer tree species, birch (Betula pendula) and mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia), were found to improve soil conditions and reverse borealization. Furthermore, trends in natural vegetation and soil development in declined forests and clear-cuts, and their relevance for forest restoration management were studied, focusing on borealization and plant species diversity. It is concluded that this natural development offers very good possibilities for a more passive, low-cost restoration management.     

Decreased impacts of the 2003 heat waves on mortality in the Czech Republic: an improved response?

The paper examines impacts on mortality of heat waves in 2003, the hottest summer on record in the Czech Republic, and compares them with previous similar events. While most summer heat waves over the period since 1986 were associated with significantly elevated mortality, this was not the case for three out of the four heat waves in 2003. The relatively weak mortality response was particularly noteworthy for the most severe heat wave which occurred in the first 10 days of August 2003 and resulted in enormous excess mortality in some western European countries. A mortality displacement effect and short-term adaptation to heat contributed to the reduced mortality impacts of the heat waves that followed after previous relatively warm periods. However, the decreased mortality response of the 2003 heat waves compared to previous heat waves in the 1990s is also likely to have arisen from positive health-care and other socio-economic changes in the post-communist central European region over the past decade, as well as a better public awareness of heat-related risks due to enhanced media coverage and regular biometeorological forecast and warnings.     

Family Dibrachicystidae (Echinodermata: Rhombifera) from the “Middle” Cambrian of the Barrandian area,Czech Republic

A slightly crushed but otherwise nearly complete specimen of the recently described rhombiferan echinoderm genus Vizcainoia Zamora and Smith, 2012 is documented from the “Middle” Cambrian Jince Formation of the P?íbram–Jince Basin of the Czech Republic. Isolated thecal plates, earlier determined as calyx plates of the eocrinoid Acanthocystites briareus Barrande, 1887 and/or as eocrinoid sp., occurring in diverse levels of the Jince Formation are reassigned to Dibrachicystidae gen. et sp. indet. Similarly, isolated thecal plates collected from the Buchava Formation of the Skryje–Tý?ovice Basin could be classified as Dibrachicystidae gen. et sp. indet. Specimens from the Barrandian area are the first records of the family Dibrachicystidae outside of southwestern Europe, of the family otherwise known only from the Languedocian of Montagne Noire of France and from the Caesaraugustian and Languedocian of Iberian Chains of northern Spain.     

Community structure of Anthomyiidae (Diptera) of six peat-bogs in the ?umava Mts (Czech Republic)

The species composition of the family Anthomyiidae in six peat-bogs in the Šumava Mts is analysed with regards to dominance, constancy, seasonal occurrence and type of distribution of each species. Anthomyiid communities in all sites are compared based on the number of species, species richness, diversity and equitability indices, as well as coefficients of similarity and Principal Components Analysis (PCA). Three collecting methods are compared: yellow pan water traps (439 specimens/43 species), sweeping (93/18) and Malaise traps (97/22). Three species, Pegoplata aestiva (24.17%), Delia platura (14.47%), and Hylemya nigrimana (11.29%) were eudominant, two further species were dominant: Delia cardui (8.74%) and Botanophila fugax (8.27%). Two species, Botanophilia fugax and Delia platura, were found in all study sites. These species, together with those collected in five sites (Delia cardui, Heterostylodes nominabilis and Hylemya vagans), had a constancy rate higher than 75% and belonged to the category of euconstant species.     

Late-Glacial and Holocene Environmental History of an Oxbow Wetland in the Polabí Lowland (River Elbe,Czech Republic); a Context-Dependent Interpretation of a Multi-Proxy Analysis

This study presents a palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of an oxbow wetland covering the past 11,500 years. The origin of the oxbow lake and development of the floodplain wetland and changes of the surrounding vegetation are reconstructed using palaeobotanical analyses, radiocarbon dating, detailed sediment stratigraphy and micromorphology of samples taken from a former palaeomeander of the river Elbe in the Czech Republic. The sedimentary record of the section Chrast was chosen due to its exceptional position within the area of former oxbow lakes. Using a multi-proxy approach, we investigated how this environment reflected climatic changes during the Holocene. Our results show that the Chrast section covers the Late-Glacial to the Middle Holocene period, which is climatically very unstable and characterized by extensive vegetation and sedimentological changes. The macrofossil record provides detailed evidence of Allerød vegetation. The sedimentological record reflects changes in fluvial activity (meandering-braided transition in the channel pattern) during Late-Glacial/Holocene and postsedimentological changes (occurrence of a doplerite layer) in the middle Holocene. We follow three independent lines of interpretation: (a) a local autogenic environmental-succession process, (b) a regional process driven by climate change, and (c) the role of stochastic and indeterministic processes.     

Spread of excitation in the upper layers (I–III) in an auditory cortex slab isolated from the cat

Research was performed on an auditory cortex slab isolated from unanesthetized immobilized cats after severing of the lower layers, preserving intact a bridge one, two, or three upper cortical layers under the pial membrane; the spike response of neurons on this slab to stimuli applied at the other side of this additional incision was observed. It was found that stimulation applied to level IV produces an excitatory wave which spreads to the upper cortical layers, leading to mono- and polysynaptic activation of neurons at all levels via the apical dendrite of pyramidal cells. Antidromic activation of layer IV neurons together with an especially high proportion of monosynaptic response was observed with the three upper cortical layers remaining intact. A possibly crucial role in the horizontal spread of excitation within the cerebral cortex of a major bundle of axons from cortical interneurons is discussed in this article.I. I. Mechnikov University, Odessa. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 20, No. 4, July–August, 1988, pp. 546–553.     

Occurrence of the toxigenic fungi (producers of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A) in foodstuffs in the Czech Republic 1999–2000

The occurrence of toxigenic fungi producing aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in foodstuffs was studied in the Czech Republic. Twenty five commodities were collected at twelve collection places in the Czech Republic (300 food samples). The presence of potentially toxigenicAspergillus flavus was observed in 28% of the sampled foods (black pepper, caraway seeds, fruit tea, black tea, oat flakes, fine flour, rolled oat flakes and semolina) in the year 1999, and in 25% of the sampled foods (black pepper, black tea, fine flour) in the year 2000.A tamarii (aflatoxins producer) was found in 3 black pepper samples (25%) in both years. Aflatoxins were detected in black pepper and caraway seed samples in the year 1999 and in sweet red pepper in the year 2000.A parasiticus andA nomius were not isolated. Aspergillus section Nigri (potential producer of ochratoxin A) was detected in some foodstuffs. Ochratoxin A was detected in raisins.Penicillium verrucosum andA ochraceus were not isolated from foodstuffs.     

A new species of the sleeper goby (Gobioidei,Eleotridae) from the České Středohoří Mountains (Czech Republic,Oligocene) and analysis of the validity of the family Pirskeniidae

A new species of gobioid fish Pirskenius Obrhelová, 1961 (P. radoni sp. nov.) is described from Oligocene strata of the ?eské St?edoho?í Mountains and compared with related species. The new species is characterized by a unique combination of characters that allow it to be separated from P. diatomaceus Obrhelová, 1961. The taxonomic position of the genus Pirskenius is discussed, and its affinity to the family Eleotridae is indicated. The new record documents, together with P. diatomaceus, the oldest known skeletal record of the Eleotridae.     

Size structure of testate amoebae (Arcellinida and Euglyphida) in different habitats from a lake in the upper Paraná River floodplain

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the size structure of testate amoebae in distinct habitats, i.e. plankton, aquatic macrophytes and aquatic sediment. The samples were taken from a floodplain lake of the upper Paraná River. The assumptions we strived to scrutinize were that (i) larger mean sizes of testate amoebae would be recorded in the sediment of the lake; and (ii) temporally, smaller individuals would be registered during the high water period in all habitats. The sampling was done monthly, from April 2007 to March 2008, in triplicates for each habitat. Testate amoebae were represented by individuals sized between 20 and 400 μm. The smaller individuals predominated in plankton samples, while in the aquatic sediment the larger ones were chiefly represented. These differences were probably associated with metabolic activities, i.e. the energy needs of these unicellular organisms, in each habitat. Two-way ANOVA yielded significant differences between hydrological periods. During the high water period, the increase in rainfall and consequently in water flow, decreased the stability of the system and increased turbulence and water column circulation. Therefore, environmental stability seems to be one of the main factors driving the temporal variation in the size structure of these specific organisms.     

Parasite diversity as an indicator of environmental change? An example from tropical grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) mariculture in Indonesia

Fish parasites are used to monitor long-term change in finfish grouper mariculture in Indonesia. A total of 210 Epinephelus fuscoguttatus were sampled in six consecutive years between 2003/04 and 2008/09 and examined for parasites. The fish were obtained from floating net cages of a commercially run mariculture facility that opened in 2001. The fauna was species rich, consisting of ten ecto- and 18 endoparasite species. The ectoparasite diversity and composition was relatively stable, with the monogeneans Pseudorhabdosynochus spp. (83-100% prevalence, Berger-Parker Index of 0·82-0·97) being the predominant taxon. Tetraphyllidean larvae Scolex pleuronectis and the nematodes Terranova sp. and Raphidascaris sp. 1 were highly abundant in 2003/04-2005/06 (max. prevalence S. pleuronectis 40%, Terranova sp. 57%, Raphidascaris sp. 1 100%), and drastically reduced until 2008/09. These parasites together with the prevalence of Trichodina spp., ecto-/endoparasite ratio and endoparasite diversity illustrate a significant change in holding conditions over the years. This can be either referred to a definite change in management methods such as feed use and fish treatment, or a possible transition of a relatively undisturbed marine environment into a more affected habitat. By visualizing all parameters within a single diagram, we demonstrate that fish parasites are useful bioindicators to monitor long-term change in Indonesian grouper mariculture. This also indicates that groupers can be used to monitor environmental change in the wild. Further taxonomic and systematic efforts in less sampled regions significantly contributes to this new application, supporting fish culture and environmental impact monitoring also in other tropical marine habitats.     

Past vegetation dynamics of Vltavský luh, upper Vltava river valley in the Šumava mountains. Czech Republic

Six pollen diagrams from peat bogs in the Vltavsky luh (upper Vltava river valley) provide new information about vegetation reconstruction, woodland dynamics, and local development of mires during the Late-glacial and Holocene. Vegetation development began in the Oldest Dryas/B?ling with open park plant cover. In the Aller?d, woodland with Pinus and Betula developed, and in the Younger Dryas there was a steppe tundra with plants of open habitats. In the Pre-boreal, woodland tundra grew. In the Boreal, Corylus spread, and a major expansion of Picea began in the early Boreal. Picea spread during the Atlantic probably by two different migration routes. Fagus immigrated earlier than in the Bayerischer Wald and Oberpf?lzer Wald in the adjoining parts of Germany, and had its major expansion in the early Atlantic. Abies expanded in the late Atlantic. The great abundance of Abies in this area is remarkable, forming Abies or Abies-Fagus woods in less extreme habitats. Human occupation started in the Sub-boreal, as shown by both archaeology and palynology. However, human impact is recognized from anthropogenic indicators which appear in the early Atlantic. At the end of the later Sub-atlantic the development of natural woodland was interrupted by plantation of Picea according to historical and palynological evidence. Received November 13, 2000 / Accepted July 7, 2001     

Glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins exist in the plasma membrane of Chlorella saccharophila (Krüger) Nadson: Plasma-membrane-bound nitrate reductase as an example

Experiments with plasma-membrane vesicles were performed in order to identify the attachment of hydrophobic nitrate reductase at the plasma membrane of Chlorella saccharophila. The enzyme was successfully removed from the plasma membrane with phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase C, and showed cross-reactivity with a monoclonal antibody (clone aGPI-3) raised against the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor of Trypanosoma variant surface protein. The enzyme was labelled in vivo by feeding [³H]ethanolamine to the cells and underwent an hydrophobicity shift after treatment with phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase C. The attachment of this form of nitrate reductase to the plasma membrane via a GPI anchor was demonstrated.Abbreviations GPI glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol - NR nitratereductase - PI-PLC phosphoinositol-specific phospholipase C - PMNR Plasma-membrane-bound nitrate reductase The research was supported by a grant from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to R.T.     

Refining the late Silurian sea-level history of the Prague Syncline—a case study based on the Přídolí GSSP (Czech Republic)

A 50-m-thick section in the Po?áry quarry, Prague Syncline (Czech Republic) spanning the upper Silurian (uppermost Ludlow and P?ídolí) to the lowermost Devonian (Lochkovian) has been studied using sedimentological and physical stratigraphical (gamma-ray spectrometry) methods combined with conodont biostratigraphy. Conodont data demonstrate the presence of local conodont biozones: “Ozarkodina” crispa (uppermost Ludlow)—Zieglerodina zellmeri (base of P?ídolí)—Zieglerodina ivochlupaci—Delotaxis detorta—“Ozarkodina” eosteinhornensis s.s.—Zieglerodina klonkensis—Icriodus hesperius-optima (lowermost Lochkovian). The studied section represents a transgressive–regressive facies succession characterized by a transition from distal calciturbidites deposited in a distally steepened carbonate platform during transgression and sea-level highstand (crispa to lower ivochlupaci zones) to mixed calciturbidites/coarse-grained bioclastic limestones (falling-stage systems tract, upper ivochlupaci to lower klonkensis zones). The upper part of the succession consists of bioclastic limestones corresponding to a subtidal setting between storm-wave and fair-weather wave base (lowstand systems tract in upper klonkensis and hesperius-optima zones). This interpretation corresponds to the late Silurian global sea-level pattern as recorded in other regions. Thus the depositional system is interpreted as mostly driven by eustasy with short-lived periods of influence from local tectonics.     

Holocene subfossil chironomid stratigraphy (Diptera: Chironomidae) in the sediment of Plešné Lake (the Bohemian Forest,Czech Republic): Palaeoenvironmental implications

A faunal record of chironomid remains was analyzed in the upper 280 cm of a 543 cm long sediment core from Ple?né jezero (Ple?né Lake), the Bohemian Forest (?umava, Böhmerwald), Czech Republic. The chronology of the sediment was established by means of 5 AMS-dated plant macroremains. The resolution of individual 3-cm sediment layers is ～115 years and the analyzed upper 280 cm of the sediment core represent 10.4 cal. ka BP. As the results of DCA show, two marked changes were recorded in the otherwise relatively stable Holocene chironomid composition: (1) at the beginning of the Holocene (ca. 10.4-10.1 cal. ka BP) only oligotrophic and cold-adapted taxa (Diamesa sp., M. insignilobus-type, H. grimshawi-type) were present in the chironomid assemblages, clearly reflecting a cool climate oscillation during the Preboreal period, and (2) during an event dated in the interval 1540–1771 AD, when most taxa vanished entirely and only Zavrelimyia sp. and Procladius sp. were alternately present accompanied by Tanytarsus sp. Although, the age of this event is in agreement with the dating of the Little Ice Age, the most probable reason for the elimination of many chironomid taxa was very low sums recorded in this part of the sediment, rather than cool conditions connected with the LIA. Variations in the chironomid fauna after the Preboreal period were reflected mainly by changes in abundances of dominant taxa rather than by changes in species composition. These variations could be explained by: (1) climatic changes, namely temperature and amount of rainfall resulting in oscillations in lake level, with changes in the occurrence of macrophytes in the littoral and (2) increasingly dense afforestation which led to a considerable input of organic material into the lake and a subsequent increase in the trophic status of the lake water.     

Restriction endonucleases from Herpetosiphon giganteus: an example of the evolution of DNA recognition specificity?

We describe the partial purification and characterisation of five Type II restriction endonucleases from two strains of Herpetosiphon giganteus. One of the activities, HgiJII, was the first enzyme found that cleaves DNA at the family of related sequences 5'-G-R-G-C-Y/C-3'. This enzyme may be related to the enzyme HgiAI from a different strain of the same species, and which cleaves at the sites 5'-G-W-G-C-W/C-3'. We have shown that DNAs from the strains producing HgiAI and HgiJII are resistant to both of these restriction endonucleases. The remaining four enzymes described here share recognition and cleavage specificities with other restriction endonucleases. The evolution of Type II restriction-modification systems and their role in vivo are discussed.     

Revisiting the homology modeling of G-protein coupled receptors: β1-adrenoceptor as an example

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) are recognized to constitute the largest family of membrane proteins. Due to the disproportion in the quantity of crystal structures and their amino acid sequences, homology modeling contributes a reasonable and feasible approach to GPCR theoretical coordinates. With the brand new crystal structures resolved recently, herein we deliberated how to designate them as templates to carry out homology modeling in four aspects: (1) various sequence alignment methods; (2) protein weight matrix; (3) different sets of multiple templates; (4) active and inactive state of templates. The accuracy of models was evaluated by comparing the similarity of stereo conformation and molecular docking results between models and the experimental structure of Meleagris gallopavo β(1)-adrenergic receptor (Mg_Adrb1) that we desired to develop as an example. Our results proposed that: (1) Cobalt and MAFFT, two algorithms of sequence alignment, were suitable for single- and multiple-template modeling, respectively; (2) Blosum30 is applicable to align sequences in the case of low sequence identity; (3) multiple-template modeling is not always better than single-template one; (4) the state of template is an influential factor in simulating the GPCR structures as well.